By some counts the first costumed {{superhero}} in comics, the Phantom was created by Lee Falk in 1936 for Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate and has been fighting evildoers on NewspaperComics Pages around the world ever since.

In DarkestAfrica, in a secret valley guarded by [[HollywoodNatives sinister blowgun-wielding pygmies,]] dwells the Phantom. Immortal, implacable, foe to all evildoers, {{pirate}}s especially: criminals everywhere speak in hushed whispers of [[SuperheroSobriquets the Ghost Who Walks, the Man Who Cannot Die]].

Except that, well, he can. And has, repeatedly. The current Phantom is the 21st of the line, continuing a tradition begun four centuries ago when his forefather washed up on a lonely African beach, the sole survivor of a pirate attack, and was nursed back to health by the sinister pygmies (who are actually quite nice once you get to know them). He is just a normal man (well, BadassNormal), with no supernatural powers (save his skull ring, which forever leaves its imprint on anyone he punches) - but, as Franchise/{{Batman}} also realized some years later, criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, and they're much easier to beat if they're already afraid of you before you even arrive...

Developed during comics' bright and breezy [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]], and written by a single author for over sixty years, ''The Phantom'' is a bit of a living fossil. Representations of women and minorities have become more sophisticated, but it never really saw the appeal of becoming {{darker|AndEdgier}} and [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism more 'realistic']]. And we love it for that.

'''Three specific things we love about ''The Phantom'':'''

* His SecretIdentity. He doesn't have one. Each man who takes up the mantle forswears all former attachments and becomes all-Phantom, all the time, from that day forth. When he needs to walk the streets as an [[{{Muggles}} ordinary man]], he doesn't take his superhero suit off: he puts an "ordinary man" disguise on over it. The disguise has a name, "Mr. Walker",[[note]]obligatory ClueFromEd: it's derived from "The Ghost Who Walks"[[/note]] but is otherwise a cipher; if anyone asks him about himself he changes the subject. How he negotiates airline booking desks and customs checkpoints has [[BellisariosMaxim never been revealed]].* His canine companion, Devil. Faithful, courageous, and intelligent, in the tradition of Rin-Tin-Tin (and pre-dating Franchise/{{Lassie}}), Devil scores over them in one important respect: he is actually a wolf, thus enabling a RunningGag where some official informs the Phantom (or, more usually, "Mr. Walker") that he can't bring his dog in here, and the Phantom breezes past, saying "Oh, that's all right, Devil isn't a dog..."* The ongoing soap opera of the Phantom's relationship with Diana Palmer, whom he met, rescued, and fell in love with on his first published adventure. Unlike most superhero romances, where the hero can spend years hesitating over whether a relationship is a good idea at all, or how much he should tell her, by the end of the first story arc the Phantom had already revealed his superhero identity and offered to show Diana around his secret lair, but the course of true love does not run smooth: she thinks she's been paralysed so she calls off the relationship, he thinks she's chosen the RomanticFalseLead over him so he goes back to the jungle to brood, her mother disapproves, the latest DamselInDistress wants him for herself, lather rinse repeat, he's afraid to propose in case she says no, he's afraid to propose in case she says yes and then finds out that the Phantom's wife traditionally stays in the Skull Cave doing housewifey stuff... After [[ComicBookTime forty years]] of this, they finally got married in 1977; the series weathered the change much better than many series do.

The Phantom has [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff a big following in Scandinavia]], where he has his own comic book (''Fantomen'' in Sweden, ''Fantomet'' in Denmark and Norway, ''Mustanaamio''[[note]]"The Blackmask", from the Weird Age of Finnish Character Name Translations[[/note]] in Finland), publishing new original adventures by other hands. Members of the Fantomen talent pool have also kept the newspaper strip going since Lee Falk's death in 1999. Australia is The Phantom's other fan stronghold, with Australian sales of ''The Phantom'' (a locally-produced comic book that reprints both newspaper strip storylines and translations of ''Fantomen'' stories) reportedly being ten times those of the top-selling {{Marvel|Comics}} and {{DC|Comics}} titles.

The Scandinavia-made adventures in the 1970s had frequent anti-colonialist plot-lines, in which the Phantom took on the regime of for instance a badly caricatured Rhodesia (the "Republic of Rhodia," which has since become a more conventional PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny) and where real-life characters, such as bishop Abel Muzorewa, appeared in equally thin disguises. That reflected the widespread anti-apartheid sentiments in those countries. In the most recent issues of ''Fantomen'' in 2013 Rhodia's apartheid regime was finally overthrown by the black RLA (Rhodian Liberation Army), with their leader and longtime political prisoner Nelson N'Dela (a thinly disguised Nelson Mandela) becoming the country's new democratic president.

The Phantom also enjoyed a brief stint of immense popularity in India during the 80's and 90's, and was regularly published (including collected newspaper clips) by the now-obsolete Indrajal Comics, and later, by Diamond Comics of Mumbai. Indrajal's volumes from this period, including Phantom, are now rare collector's items. Although news of the 1996 Phantom movie initially boosted sales through the roof, after the actual release itself fans were not pleased. The film seems to have been the turning point leading to the character's decline in the region, and Phantom soon went zooming down to hit rock bottom in terms of obscurity. Indrajal's bankruptcy during that period didn't help.

By mid 2000s, though you could still find further issues from Moonstone, the current publisher, those were rare, too expensive due to ''very'' low sales, and new releases were few and far in between.

The Phantom has been adapted for film twice. A [[Film/ThePhantom1943 1943 film serial]] starred Tom Tyler as the Phantom and Ace the Wonder Dog as Devil. Better known (if not better regarded) is [[Film/ThePhantom the 1996 film]] starring Billy Zane as the Phantom, Kristy Swanson as Diana Palmer and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Sala.

The Phantom has also inspired an animated TV series, ''WesternAnimation/{{Phantom 2040}}'', was one of the WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth, and is the subject of a recent {{SyFy}} miniseries.

----!!This series includes examples of:

* ActionGirl:** Explorer and Olympian Diana Palmer, though sometimes the plot required her to be somewhat [[FauxActionGirl less badass]].** Sala, who was a pilot, spy, crack shot, and second in command of the SkyPirates.** Julie, the twin sister of the 17th Phantom, who filled her brothers place on several occasions when he was unable to wear the Phantom costume.** Flame Stanbury, who donned the costume in a bid to encourage an uprising against a tyrant, and ended up marrying the real Phantom.** In a vision of the future that Moz the storyteller had, Heloise Walker, daughter of the 21st Phantom, is quite badass.* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: In "The Veiled Lady", a biologist mounts an expedition to the eponymous mountain. In an early scene, biologist and assistant meet with Colonel Weeks of the Jungle Patrol to arrange permits, and Weeks initially assumes that the man is the biologist and the woman is the assistant.* AfraidOfDoctors: When a missionary doctor first arrived in Bangalla, he was distrusted by the natives. However, when their shaman routinely failed to cure their ills, the natives began coming to the genial, methodical doctor.* AmazonBrigade: Sala's Sky Band.* AnimatedAdaptation: Three, actually. The first was ''WesternAnimation/TheManWhoHatedLaughter'', a 1972 special featuring pretty much all King Features' characters. In 1986, there was ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'', basically ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' with King Features' action/adventure heroes. ''WesternAnimation/{{Phantom 2040}}'', produced in 1994-95 and set in 2040, starred a [[LegacyCharacter later Phantom]].* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: Between the dowries of the princesses the various Phantoms have married, chestsful of gold and jewelery given as gifts, and that they live mostly off the land, the Walkers are very well off.* ArchEnemy: The Phantom is traditionally opposed by the current leader of the Singh Brotherhood; the 21st Phantom first battles Dogai Singh, and later, his daughter Sandal Singh. Other notable enemies include the mercenary Gold Hand and the evil [[PresidentEvil President Lubanga]].* AristocratsAreEvil: The Phantoms in any era often found themselves opposing various evil counts and barons while travelling in Europe, especially during the early generations of the dynasty when the continent was littered with various small kingdoms and city-states. Of a more specific note is Sir Thomas Moore, an enemy of the first Phantom who plotted against Henry VIII, and murdered the Phantom's mother in an attempt to cover his tracks by killing a boarder she hosted, the alchemist Paracelsus.* AsYouKnow:** Whenever a Phantom meets a group of people that had a history with a former Phantom, they [[{{Exposition}} will helpfully inform him of what happened the last time "he" was there]], even though they think he is the same guy.** The origin of the Phantom is repeated in nearly every story.* BadassArmfold: The Phantom often poses this way.* BadassCreed: One of the classics - The Oath of the Skull, sworn by the first Phantom on the skull of his father's murderer, and repeated by each of his successors in turn:-->"I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms, and my sons and their sons shall follow me."* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: In the 1947 story arc "Romance":-->'''Cruise ship captain:''' Is this -- piracy?\\'''Pirate:''' That's a nasty word, Captain.* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Played straight pretty much every time, except in the '90s when the Scandinavian version went for a period of DarkerAndEdgier (if a comparatively mild one).* BluffingTheAdvanceScout: In the 1970s story ''The Blue Giant'', alien advance scouts land to check out whether humans are a good prospect for invasion. After encountering the Phantom, they decide that if all humans are like him, the planet's best left alone.* BondVillainStupidity: Endemic since the time of the first Phantom. Of course, 20 generations of LegacyCharacter doesn't happen without the occasional someone averting this trope.* BreakingBadNewsGently: In "Fathers and Sons":-->'''Styx:''' I have news for you -- it may be a shock. Mebbe you'd better sit down and listen.\\'''Mike:''' I can hear anything standin' up! What is it?\\''[Styx gives him the news. He sits down suddenly.]''* {{Bulungi}}: Bangalla.* CallingTheOldManOut: The Third Phantom went through a period of this, demanding to know why his father had essentially decided his life for him from birth, and ended up running away and joining Shakespeare's theater troop in London. He eventually decided to take up the cowl anyway after his wife was murdered and returned home just in time before his father died from wounds inflicted by pirates.* CannotSpitItOut: A major reason why it took the Phantom and Diana so long to get married -- they loved each other, and both knew it, but when it came to actually popping the question, the Phantom's otherwise undauntable nerve failed him. The 1947 story arc "Romance", for instance, begins with a sequence in which the Phantom works himself up to pop the question several times, only to chicken out and change the subject each time, to Diana's mounting irritation. (Then he hits on the idea of buying a ring and letting it do the talking -- and ''that'' leads, by a series of steps each straightforward in itself, to the Phantom trapped on an abandoned ship that's about to be blown up, and Diana swearing never to speak to him again.)* CaveBehindTheFalls: The Skull Cave lies in a valley that has to be entered through a waterfall.* CassandraTruth: A character during the very first story arc correctly deduces the truth about the Phantom, that it is a heraditary title passed down across generations, but no one else even belives the Phantom exists.* ChallengingTheChief: In olden times, the jungle tribes were united under a high chief who ruled until he was challenged and killed in single combat. An earlier Phantom gained the loyalty of the tribes by successfully challenging the high chief (but sparing his life, of course). In modern times, the challenge has evolved into an annual friendly wrestling competition in which all the tribes send their best to fight for the honour of coming second to the Phantom.* TheChewToy: The 4th Phantom is considered by his descendants to have been plagued by misfortune. He ended up losing the iconic Skull Ring to a conspiracy led by a Jesuit priest, and had to wear a replica for the rest of his life, with the ring eventually being regained by his son, lost the love of his life to the BlackPlague, and contracted the disease himself, narrowly surviving, but was left with horrific scars all over his face from the boils.* ClueFromEd: Every single time "Mr. Walker" is mentioned, Ed reminds us that the name is derived from "The Ghost Who Walks". As such it doubles as ViewersAreGoldfish.* CombatPragmatist: Being raised in a jungle with EverythingTryingToKillYou can do that to a guy.* ComicBookTime: Despite the built-in opportunity to go the LegacyCharacter route.* ConvictionByCounterfactualClue: In the '80s and '90s, in the Swedish edition, on rare occasions.* CostumeCopycat: In the early newspaper comics, at least two different stories in which a convict on the run finds and steals the Phantom's clothes while the Phantom's having a swim. ''Fantomen'' has done both the "criminal wears a replica of the Phantom's outfit to divert suspicion" and the "hero in distant land, inspired by tales of the Phantom, wears a replica of the Phantom's outfit" plots at various times. In fact, this was how a historical Phantom met his wife.* CoversAlwaysLie: An odd variation occurs with the Australian covers -- they generally do show events that actually occur in the story (since, to keep design costs down, most of them are direct copies of actual panels), but they're apparently coloured by somebody who hasn't read the story. Sometimes this doesn't matter. Sometimes it does; examples range from a FieryRedhead being depicted with black hair to several instances of African characters being given yellow hair and pink skin, as well as one instance where a criminal aviator's leather flying helmet was coloured purple, resulting in a cover that appeared to show the Phantom shooting an innocent bystander.* TheCowl: Definitely the "scares the villains in the dark" kind of superhero.* {{Crossdresser}}: Before he became the Phantom, the third Phantom was an actor playing [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Juliet]]. This may or may not have upset his father, who left his own reaction out of the relevant chronicle entry.* CrossOver: Among the tribal leaders invited to attend the Phantom's wedding is Lothar, the ScaryBlackMan sidekick of Lee Falk's other famous character, ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician. (Mandrake himself also attends.)* CycleOfRevenge: Of a sort. The Phantom line and the Sing Brotherhood are sworn enemies, and have a centuries long feud, with each side often claiming the life of the head of the other, which in turn just leads to a new Phantom, or a new Singh leader arising.* DaddysLittleVillain: Sandal Singh, the current President of Bangala, and secretly the new head of the Singh Brotherhood, after the death of her father Dogai Singh, the original arch enemy of the 21st Phantom.* DarkerAndEdgier: In the Scandinavian version, during [[TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the mid-90s]], the Phantom's native Bangalla was taken over by the ruthless dictator and voodoo sorcerer Lubanga, who murdered or [[AxCrazy drove mad]] several minor supporting characters. Violence by all parties was also depicted [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence more graphically]] in this period; see the note above on BlastingItOutOfTheirHands. Particular mention goes to the ''Heart of Darkness'' ongoing storyline, in which the Phantom's enemies included neo-Nazis and a horrific, apparently immortal serial killer.* DarkestAfrica: Where Bangalla is located. In the beginning it was in South Asia.* DarkestHour: At one point, Phantom and lifelong friend Luaga have a falling out after the disastrous presidential elections, Diana and the Phantom separate, and Lubanga is in control of the country.* DefeatMeansFriendship: The Phantom who founded the Jungle Patrol singlehandedly defeated the legendary pirate Redbeard and his three lieutenants in single combat. Upon defeat, they swore allegiance to him, and became the Patrols first commanders.* DeathGlare: The viewer can't tell due to the mask, but he's apparently very good at this along with a really scary voice. There's even an ancient jungle proverb about how the Phantom's glare/voice turns blood to ice.* DeathIsDramatic: The number of Phantoms who have died without having the time to dramatically pass on the rings to their son while on their deathbed (usually back in the Skull Cave, no matter where in the world they've been mortally wounded), can be counted on one hand.* TheDogWasTheMastermind: A borderline example, perhaps, but in the very first news strip adventure ("The Singh Brotherhood"), when we first meet [[DarkActionGirl Sala]], she appears only as the pirate king Kabai Singh's useless mistress. She's gradually established as [[ManipulativeBastard smarter and more manipulative]], and in the end ''she's'' the one to tell Kabai ''he's'' [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]] and kill him. Turns out she was really a double agent for the SkyPirates under deep cover who sabotaged Kabai so the Phantom could destroy his organization, because it competed with hers...* DownerEnding:** One historical Phantom adventure set during the Renaissance, involves the current Phantom getting involved in a feud between three brothers who have split up their father's kingdom between them, and are constantly trying to conquer the others lands. The storyline concludes with every single named character dead, including the woman the Phantom has fallen in love with, and leaves the Phantom to bury the dead alone before returning in grief to Bangala.** Another Downer Ending involved the second Phantom and his unknown half brother Renee, the son of the first Phantom and a French noblewoman. After his father's death, the new Phantom is contacted by Artois, a friend of said woman, and through him finds out that Renee is a prisoner of the catholic inquisition for his involvement with the Protestant movement. The Phantom rescues him, but Renee is eventually killed in the Hugenot massacre which they had failed to prevent, and nearly every character in the story aside from Renee's mother is killed in the riots. All that is left for the Phantom is to bring Renee back with him to Bangala and bury him with the father he never knew.* DrinkOrder: The Phantom's drink of choice is milk. Even when he's undercover in the seediest bar in town. Nobody ever mocks him for it... more than once.* DreamingOfThingsToCome: One storyline from the 80s involves a super virus released after a plane crash killing all life in Bangala, including, it's implied, the Phantom's wife and children. It turns out to be a fever dream Phantom is having, but later revealed to be a premonition of the future, leading him to prevent the terrorist attack that caused the plane crash, and disposing of the virus into a volcano.* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Various villains, beginning with the Singh Brotherhood in the very first story arc.* ExpressiveMask: It hides his eyes, but is apparently very flexible, and allows for a solid DeathGlare.* EvilCripple: Sir Thomas Moore survives his supposed death after his battle with the first Phantom, but is left paralyzed and hideously disfigured, reduced to moving around in a wheeled cabinet-like contraption, an early precursor to the wheelchair.* EyeScream: One historical Phantom had his eyes poked out with hot irons while in captivity of a high ranking Singh pirate. He would later have them returned to him through magical means.* TheFaceless:** The Phantom's unmasked face is never shown. There is a legend that "He who sees the face of The Phantom... dies a slow and horrible death", and although his close friends and family are shown to be immune, apparently readers aren't. And there's always [[MrExposition an African mook]] around to warn the villain not to remove the mask and scare the other mooks into leaving the room. The villain himself will usually profess not to be impressed by these African superstitions -- but there's never been more than a handful who haven't lost their nerve at the last moment and decided to leave the mask on, and they all died a horrible death not long after. This goes so far that The Phantom has actually been arrested by the police, tried in a court of law and put in a psychiatric institution once... And at no point during the process did ''anyone'' remove his mask. It looks like the legend in question only applies when the mask is forcibly removed.** The Nomad has this as his main gimmick as well. We the readers ''do'' get to see his face, of course, but in-universe he goes to great pains to make sure NOBODY knows of the connection between his criminal self and his civilian persona, Eric Sahara, [[BadBoss to the point of killing informants shortly after they've delivered valuable information to him]].* TheFagin: The Phantom once encountered such a man leading a crew of pickpockets in Africa in the "Black Fagin" storyline.* FanFiction: [[http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/immortalpictures/ThePhantombyRicardoVenancio.jpg This picture]] is worth at least a thousand words.* FantasticNatureReserve: The island of Eden, populated by many peacefully coexisting animals; the carnivores eat fish and have never tasted blood. As well as a single genuine unicorn, a dinosaur and whole family (male, female, single offspring) of [[FrazettaMan semi-sentient prehistoric man-creatures]].* ForgottenFirstMeeting: The hero and his love interest meet for the first time in the first story arc, until Lee Falk wrote the story of "The Childhood of the Phantom" and included a scene where they met briefly years before when they were both children.* FlatEarthAtheist: Almost to the level of [[Series/TheXFiles Agent Scully]], the Phantom is a skeptic to the extreme. Sometimes justified in that the supernatural events he witnesses are juuuust ambigious enough to cast doubt, but usually he seems to be skeptic just for the sake of it.* GenerationXerox: 21 generations and counting.* GeographicFlexibility: The Phantom's home is somewhere in the jungles of DarkestAfrica, near the fictional nation of Bangalla. Although various details over the years have narrowed the possibilities down, the precise location and layout of the region deliberately remain vague. (And this is without going into the fact that until the 1960s, Bangalla was called Bengali and was in [[SimSimSalabim India]], and in the very earliest Phantom stories his home and the pygmy tribe were situated on an Indonesian island.)* GoGoEnslavement:** Diana in the Scandinavian version in the 1970s was captured by the [[TheEvilPrince Prince of Jamadan]] for his harem and made to wear a revealing outfit for the rest of the story.** The 11th Phantom's wife Renata in the 18th century when she was kidnapped by Red Sea pirates, shipwrecked and sold into slavery in Yemen.** Mary Poe attempted this on Jeanette Walker, born Lafitte, but no one at the auction had the courage to bid on the wife of the Ghost Who Walks. * GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: At least twice, both times to set up a CostumeCopycat plot.* GoshDangItToHeck: At one point in the 1974 story arc "The Normal Life", a character is castigated for his foul language; the strongest word he is actually seen to use is "creep".* GuileHero: It is almost weird that most of the training shown of the young Phantom-to-be are of him learning martial arts or sharpening his senses by doing something while blindfolded, seeing as he is so good at lying, acting, and strategizing.* HighlyVisibleNinja: The Phantom's stealthy jungle-ninja suit is purple. (Lee Falk intended it to be gray, and the early black-and-white dailies occasionally have dialogue saying so. When the color Sunday strip started up, it became purple, either due to a [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executive]] who felt that the hero of a color strip should be more colorful or to a printing error.[[note]]It could have been worse. DC Comics used to be plagued with a color registration problem that caused certain shades of gray to be printed as ''hot pink''.[[/note]] Falk eventually gave in and wrote in a {{handwave}} that it was purple because the Phantom's look was intended to evoke a particular idol worshipped by the jungle tribes.) Meanwhile, various international publications have depicted him in a range of colors, from a dark blue in Sweden to a short-lived Italian comic that showed his costume as a mixture of bright red, green, and orange.* HistoricalInJoke: Several. With a history spanning back to the 17th century and a lot of stories to choose from, the Phantom has had his finger in lots of background events throughout history. Among others, he was involved in the French Revolution, helping the Dauphin escape the guillotine; he befriended Nostradamus, who was the one who gave him the Skull Ring; and [[ItMakesSenseInContext he helped the British defeat the Spanish Armada by time travelling and helping to vanquish Mordred from Camelot]].* HollywoodNatives: Pretty much every native tribe the Phantom ever encountered, to a greater or lesser extent, although the depictions have tended to become more nuanced as the series goes on.* HowUnscientific: The Phantom occasionally (as in, maybe once every few decades) had encounters with visiting aliens.* IAmSpartacus: In "Hooded Justice" (one of the Scandinavian arcs), the fifth Phantom is transported back in time to 12th century Nottingham where he takes on the role of RobinHood. The Sheriff captures Maraian and declares she will be executed if Robin Hood does not present himself. The Phantom steps forward and declares he is Robin Hood. Then each of the Merry Men planted throughout the crowd claims that he is Robin Hood. The Sheriff's men attempt to arrest everyone and the confusion allows the Phantom to rescue Marian.* IdenticalGrandson: Every Phantom looks exactly like the 1st.** Its implied that there is minor variations in height and size, but the costume tends to hide any real distinctive differences.* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: At least once, in the 1947 story arc "Romance", Diana's entanglement with a RomanticFalseLead went so far that she ended up doing a RunawayBride to get out of it; the Phantom had stood aside, since it seemed to be what she wanted, but he did give the groom-to-be the "You're marrying the finest girl in the world, and if you do anything to hurt her..." speech.* IOweYouMyLife: People saving the Phantom occasionally get the good mark printed on them (or sometimes in the form of necklaces or other jewelry) in return. Later Phantoms tend to return favours to people who have the mark -- or their descendants -- in kind. * IWantGrandkids: Not that it's mentioned often, the current Phantom is married with two kids, but every Phantom is expected to father an heir to continue their legacy. The biggest difference that Phantom has from most examples of this is that the pressure is coming from beyond the grave not just his father, but his grandfather, and great-grandfather, and so on.* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Several times, from both the Phantom and Diana on various occasions, as part of the ongoing relationship plot.* IrislessEyeMaskOfMystery: The Phantom is the TropeMaker, [[OlderThanTheyThink preceding Batman by three years]].* JungleDrums: Frequently appear as a method of sending long-distance messages in the African jungle.** A ''far'' more sinister version was used in a series of Scandinavian stories from the 80's, revolving around [[LastOfHisKind the last survivor of the Tinpeni tribe]], a tribe of black magicians who used enchanted drums to hypnotize members of the surrounding tribes and force them into slavery or death. Eventually, the tribes banded together and massacred the Tinpeni, but one man and his son survived, and they salvaged one of the cursed drums. The man trains his son in the use of the drum, and in present day, he attempts to get revenge on the tribes who wiped out his people, but is stopped by the Phantom.* LegacyCharacter: Although the main continuity has focused on the same person from beginning to present day, many episodes are about the lives and adventures of previous Phantoms, and the legacy is strong.* LegacyImmortality: The Skull Oath includes a promise that all male descendants shall inherit TheCall.* LovesMyAlterEgo: Averted; the Phantom tells Diana who he really is in the very first story.** In one dream flashback, we see Diana talking to Kit again after being mad at him for mysteriously disappearing right before a date (he had just gotten word that his father was dying, but she didn't know), and right after having seen the Phantom dealing with a hostage situation at a diner, and when he asks if she has met someone else she says "maybe" while thinking of the man who saved her and her mother's life earlier that evening. It never goes beyond that, though.* MakeGamesNotWar: Several stories feature the Jungle Olympics, an annual sporting event founded by a past Phantom as a proxy for the wars the jungle tribes used to fight. It's a running joke that the tribes have found many of the sports insufficiently challenging, and have added spikes, red-hot coals, and dangerous animals to make them more interesting.* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Eric Sahara, otherwise known as the Nomad.* MightyWhitey: There's such a strong taste of this it can honestly be rather uncomfortable. Especially when it sinks in that, despite the fact the Phantoms have been living in Africa for centuries, they still have white skin. In fact, no historical Phantom has ever been said to marry an African woman (although the 19th came close, and several of the historical Phantoms' wives were South European or Asian). His [[ArtisticLicenceBiology continued caucasian appearance]] seems to coast by due to GrandfatherClause. This was especially prevalent in the early decades of the strip, with the African tribes being portrayed with the usual finesse common to comic books of the '50s and '60s, but has thankfully lessened a lot since then, with The Phantom, the Bandars and the other tribes being portrayed as allies and friends rather than semi-servants like in the comic's early years.* MonsterModesty: The [[FishPeople Croccos]] wear loincloths (and are either a SingleGenderSpecies or an aversion of NonMammalMammaries), but since they live in the ocean... where do they get the cloth?* MultilayerFacade: The secret leader of the jungle patrol is The Phantom itself - the masked superhero identity, rather than its mundane counterpart "Mr Walker".* NonHumanSidekick: Devil, who is a wolf. In the jungle, also his horse Hero.* NonPoweredCostumedHero:** An excellent example of the central concept, though slightly less than typical for not having a proper SecretIdentity.** The one "superpower" he does have (as revealed by a blood test when he is held captive) is that his blood contains antibodies for every disease known to man, thus enabling him to live a long and healthy natural life.* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Current recurring villain Chatu/"The Python" was recently experimenting on bats in order to start an Ebola epidemic. The only person he managed to infect was himself, and he needed the Phantom to rescue him from painful death. A few months after this embarassing failure, Chatu orchestrates a terrorist attack ([[MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll from his prison cell]]) and had his men abduct Diana, leaving the Phantom thinking she'd died in the attack.* OffhandBackhand: The Phantom delivers one to a hoodlum sneaking up behind him in "Whirlpool Channel".* OrWasItADream: Several historical adventures set before the Phantoms existed take place like this, among them the events that led to Excalibur and an arrow that once belonged to Robin Hood coming into their possession.** One adventure involving a magical genie ends like this, where the Phantom is mortally wounded at the end of the story, but is saved by the Genie despite having used up his three wishes. He later awakens on the beach where the story began, and isnt sure wether any of it really happened.* PietaPlagiarism: One of the covers of the story ''The Ghost Who Died Twice'' has one Phantom being held this way by his son.* {{Pirate}}: Have a tendency to appear in the Phantom's adventures, since he's the sworn enemy of their kind.** Female pirates are sometimes a different story. The fifteenth Phantom married one, the thirteenth or fourteenth married the sister of one (Jeanette Lafitte, sister of Jean Lafitte), and the sixteenth Phantom had an affair resulting in a child with the pirate Kate Sommerset.** Not so much with Mary Poe, who was only after avenging her father, the pirate Black Poe. She did make her alias [[spoiler:[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mary Read]]]], so maybe she wanted to get caught.* PirateGirl / SkyPirate: Sala* PresidentEvil: The Scandinavian comics have twice had Bangalla taken over by evil presidents:** In [[TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the 90s]], Bangalla got taken over by [[EvilOverlord tyrant]] ''[[EvilOverlord cum]]'' [[EvilOverlord voodoo sorcerer]] Kigali Lubanga. Unlike previous coup-happy generals and assorted single-issue conquerors, Lubanga was a VillainWithGoodPublicity who [[DemocracyIsBad won a reasonably fair election]] against his good-guy opponent. The Phantom then spent the next couple of years [[HeroWithBadPublicity in opposition to the government, authorities and public opinion]], before the people realized their country was gradually being turned into the PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny and rebelled, reinstating the old president.** In more recent times, the guy was ousted again after Lubanga made his comeback as the leader of an [[PathOfInspiration evil cult]] and tried (but quickly failed) to resume his old reign. The new PresidentEvil is, instead, [[DaddysLittleVillain Sandal Singh]], DarkChick daughter of the Phantom's perennial ArchNemesis Dogai Singh, the leader of the [[AncientConspiracy Singh Pirate Brotherhood]].*** Interestingly enough, Sandal has been shown to be quite capable as president, and unlike Lubanga hasn't made any overt moves to turn Bangalla into a dictatorship. Of course, she's still also the head of the Singh Brotherhood...* ProtoSuperhero: Since 1936.* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: Diana is an Olympic medalist in diving.* RedRightHand: You get the occasional villain like this, most noteably the mercenary Goldhand who, you guessed it, had a prosthetic hand made out of gold. Another villain had an iron claw due to having his hand cut off for thievery under islamic law.* RefusalOfTheCall: The third Phantom originally rejected the legacy and ended up becoming an actor under Shakespeare, but eventually found himself taking on the cowl anyway after his wife was murdered.* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Subverted in the first story arc, which drops several blatant hints that Jimmy Wells, rich layabout and childhood friend of Diana Palmer, is really the Phantom -- only to have him disappear from the plot completely and the Phantom to reveal a very different origin. It's generally assumed that Lee Falk originally meant to play it straight, then changed his mind when a more creative idea occurred to him.* RomanticFalseLead: Most notably Lieutenant Byron.* RunawayBride: Diana, at the end of the 1947 story arc "Romance", does a runner from a posh society wedding after realizing that she's making a mistake and that the Phantom is the one for her after all.* RuthlessModernPirates: Being as he is the scourge of piracy, the modern-day Phantom has encountered modern-day pirates from time to time.* SandInMyEyes: In "The Fourth Son", the title character (the fourth son of an earlier Phantom) starts sobbing when his elder brothers leave to attend school. When his mother reminds him that his father thinks boys shouldn't cry, he claims between sobs that he's not crying, he just has a bug in his eye.* ScarecrowSolution: The Phantom's usual tactic. He relies far more on cunning and guile than his fists.* SecretKeeper: The Bandars have traditionally been "in on" the true nature of the Phantom ever since they saved the original, and he helped them free themselves from another tribe that had enslaved them. Also in the Scandinavian comics, Dr Axel, a local doctor who has treated the modern Phantom and his family on a few occasions.* SharedUniverse: It's well established that The Phantom exists in the same universe as fellow Lee Falk-creation ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician, with Mandrake having had several cameos in the Phantom's comics, including at his wedding.* SharkPool: The Singh Brotherhood has one, as shown in the very first story.* ShootingSuperman: With a twist.* ShoutOut: An early 2000 story arc in the newspaper dailies dealt with criminals recovering millions in Belgian jewels from a steamboat called Film/TheAfricanQueen that had crashed in an impossible to navigate river, killing both on board.* ShroudedInMyth: Most villains hearing about the Phantom for the first time just assume he is some jungle myth that only superstitious jungle tribes believe in.* SkyPirates: Sala and the Sky Band* StatuesqueStunner: Princess Vhatta in "The Fourth Son".* StevenUlyssesPerhero: According to a later retcon, "Walker" is the actual surname of the first Phantom, and thus of every Phantom since. This hasn't stopped Ed telling us that it's derived from "The Ghost Who Walks".* {{Superhero}}: Although he has no magic, just lifelong training in anything that might prove useful in his line of work, he still has a skintight suit and what might be termed super strength. A jungle proverb has it that he is as strong as ten tigers, but to be fair the Phantom who inspired that proverb defeated the tigers mostly by outsmarting them.* SuperheroPackingHeat: Has two guns in his gunbelt. Rarely misses with either hand.* SuperheroSobriquets: The Ghost Who Walks, The Man Who Cannot Die, because of all the people who have killed him only to meet him again, either as a later Phantom or as himself after surviving seemingly fatal damages. Sometimes it's an old person who tells their grandchild they saw the Phantom when they were the grandchild's age, and the Phantom doesn't look older than he did at the time. One story has it the first Phantom called himself the Avenger, and only became the Phantom because one of his enemies thought he was his murdered cousin risen from the dead.* SureLetsGoWithThat: The Phantoms did not actually cultivate the legend of their immortality on purpose, by the time of the fifth Phantom, the jungle tribes, except the Bandars, belived that the person under the mask was still the same man as a century and a half before, since they looked the same. The Phantoms decided to simply go with it as it proved to be a valuable tool against crime.* TechnicalPacifist: The Phantom does use guns, but is apparently such a great shot that he almost never needs to shoot ''people'' - see ImprobableAimingSkills, BlastingItOutOfTheirHands. He does shoot people in self-defense on occasion though, especially if they start shooting first.* ThouShaltNotKill: Not directly, anyhow. The Phantom doesn't kill, but he doesn't lose much sleep over criminals who end up dead and doesn't go out of his way to save everyone he crosses paths with. There are at least two recorded instances of the Phantom fatally shooting someone, and unlike many other superheroes this has apparently never been retconned.* TinyGuyHugeGirl: "The Fourth Son" tells the tale of the shortest Phantom (five foot two and a half), who winds up marrying a six-foot AmazonianBeauty.* {{Tuckerization}}: The title character of the storyline "Princess Valerie" has the name and appearance of Lee Falk's eldest daughter.* TortureTechnician: Recurring concept, as torture technicians are often employed by whatever BigBad the Phantom is currently fighting, only a scant few are named, such as Cyclops and Maestro Morte.* TrainingFromHell: Every Phantom is trained in combat, jungle survival and shooting by their father, and often have careers in the military prior to taking up the mantle.* UnderwearOfPower: Arguably the TropeCodifier, especially in countries where he is still popular. He wears red-and-black striped underwear on purple. In several stories this is the ''only'' thing he wears aside from his hood/mask, boots, and gunbelt.* UnexpectedSuccessor: The thirteenth Phantom was a fourth child, and sickly as a child on top of it (even though he became one of the most heavily built phantoms by working himself to the bone, his adult height was about 5'2''). He was, however, the only son around when his father was killed and thus able to recite the skull oath.* ViewersAreGeniuses: Not all the time, but a lot of the stories told about past Phantoms are more enjoyable if you know your world history. The Swedish comic book would often have a condensed version of the relevant historic events in it.* WheelOfPain: In "The Chain", featuring the twentieth Phantom trying to free his fiance from an evil sultan who wants to force her into marriage.* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Numerous stories of the current Phantom's ancestors* WorthlessYellowRocks: Until each Kit leaves the cave they either don't know anything about or understand the concept of money. The twenty-first Phantom carried around [[WorthlessYellowRocks a bag of stones]] his father gave him not knowing why until he heard his uncle complain about tuition costs months latter. The same story had a very young Kit playing with the gold like they were building blocks.* WritersCannotDoMath: Or genealogy, apparently. As such the same women have been said to have been married to consecutive Phantoms, such as princess Pura having been married to either the third or the fourth, depending on the story; a woman named Flame Stanbury married either the eighth or ninth Phantom, and so on. Also, the Jungle Patrol was founded by either the fifth or the sixth Phantom.* YouCantFightFate: A handful of Phantoms have tried to find lives outside of the mask, but they nearly always find themselves drawn back in, usually because they can't stand to see the injustice around them go unpunished.* ZorroMark: The imprint left by either of his rings. With the good ring it's given consensually and nonviolently as a mark of respect. With the skull ring... It's none of those three. The skull mark is actually a scar created by the force of the Phantom's punch, and the bladed edge of the skull motif, while the good mark is imprinted with a secret permanent ink hidden inside the ring. The ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' examined the skull ring use and found that it would be impossible to leave indentations in people's skin with mechanical force without also shattering the victim's bones in that location and (in the case of the head) killing them. The comic {{Handwave}}d this by explaining that the Phantom dips his rings in a less-concentrated version of the Bandar arrow poison long before the Mythbusters examined it, though.